Early voting nearly doubles 2022, Giants win in OT, Barclays gets a new front door. New York Explained for October 26, 2026.

New York Explained October 26, 2026
The Front Page
The retired NYPD detective charged with manslaughter in the George Washington Bridge shooting of Con Ed worker Koran Irvine posted $1 million bail Friday; prosecutors first charged murder, then downgraded it, and he is due back in court Tuesday [15].
One of the seven men Jane Doe sued over the alleged 2024 Chi Phi rape at Cornell asked a judge to dismiss the claims against him, arguing they were filed too late; two others are separately trying to disqualify Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor [36].
City suicide deaths fell from 601 in 2022 to 535 in 2024, but the Latino rate rose from 3.8 to 5.4 per 100,000 between 2015 and 2024, the Health Department reports [39].
Albany Med wants to convert Columbia Memorial in Hudson to a 25-bed critical access hospital; the health system says it will keep every current service, and the hospital typically holds 30 to 50 admitted patients at a time [40].
Hempstead Republicans want the public South Nassau Water Authority to buy out Liberty Utilities, which is seeking 22% and 30% rate hikes on customers who already pay about $1,870 a year [30].
This Morning in New York

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1Planned Work

In Upper Manhattan, downtown [1] skips 125 St, 116 St-Columbia University, Cathedral Pkwy (110 St) and 103 St

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No [4] between 149 St-Hostos and 125 St

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In Queens, Flushing-bound [7] skips 52 St and 69 St All trains at Woodside-61 St board from the Manhattan-bound platform

ADelays

Downtown [D] trains are running on the local track from 125 St to 59 St-Columbus Circle while we perform track maintenance near 125 St.

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Jamaica Center-bound [E] runs via the Roosevelt Island [F] from W 4 St-Wash Sq, Manhattan to 21 St-Queensbridge

DPlanned Work

In Upper Manhattan, downtown [D] skips 155 St All trains at 145 St board from the uptown platform

FPlanned Work

In Brooklyn, Coney Island-bound [F] runs express from Jay St-MetroTech to Kings Hwy All trains at 18 Av and Kings Hwy board from the Manhattan-bound platform

GPlanned Work

In Brooklyn, some Church Av-bound [G] trains will skip 4 Av/9 St, 15 St-Prospect Park, and Fort Hamilton Pkwy

This Week

Free things to do

Hochul's early vote bet on the five boroughs

New York City logged more than 165,000 early votes in two days, nearly double the 97,155 of 2022, as Gov. Hochul campaigned twice in three days beside Mayor Mamdani.

Hochul's early vote bet on the five boroughs
Photo: spectrum

Hochul joined Mamdani at McCarren Park in Williamsburg Friday and at a union canvass kickoff at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights Sunday, banking on city turnout after her single-digit 2022 win [4]. Bruce Blakeman worked Staten Island, southern Brooklyn and Flushing Saturday, then Yorktown Heights Sunday, calling Hochul Mamdani's "puppet" [4][2]. Mamdani told reporters he voted for Hochul on the Working Families Party line instead of the Democratic one [4]. NY1 reports two independent polls show Blakeman ahead upstate [7].

“OK by me, as long as they vote,”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, on voters skipping the Democratic line · [4]
“Our electric bills are 70% higher than the national average because of Kathy Hochul,”
Bruce Blakeman, Republican nominee · [7]
By the numbers
  • 165,000city votes cast in the first two days of early voting, on par with the 2025 mayoral general [4]
  • 97,155votes in the same two days in 2022 [4]
  • $50,000of single-filer income Blakeman would exempt from state income tax ($100,000 joint), with no specific cuts named to pay for it [7]
WatchEarly voting runs through Nov. 1; Election Day is Nov. 3 [7].
FromCity & State New York - All ContentBreaking NYC News & Local Headlines | New York PostPolitics | Spectrum News NY1

McCarthy's first start ends in a Giants overtime win

J.J. McCarthy went 20 of 28 for 252 yards in his first Giants start, and Devin Singletary's 30-yard run beat Houston 27-21 in overtime.

McCarthy's first start ends in a Giants overtime win
Photo: abc7ny

The Giants were 10.5-point underdogs in Houston and won anyway, forcing a three-and-out on the Texans' overtime possession before Cam Skattebo's 42-yard run set up Singletary [86][49]. Skattebo, who had no carries a week earlier, ran for the first 100-yard game of his career [86]. Rookie kicker Dominic Zvada missed twice, and Harbaugh later punted from the Houston 38 rather than try another [49]. The Giants are 4-2-1 and lead the NFC East into the bye [48].

By the numbers
  • 124rushing yards on 17 carries for Skattebo [86]
  • 4straight 100-yard receiving games for Malik Nabers, the NFL's longest streak per Next Gen Stats [49]
  • 13 of 18Zvada on field goals this season, 4 of 9 after a 9-of-9 start [49]
WatchThe Giants are off this week; Big Blue View expects a kicker workout during the bye [49].
Fromabc7NY RSS FeedBig Blue View

Barclays Center's new entrance and its art

Barclays Center opened its season with a rebuilt main atrium, a 550-panel Sarah Sze sculpture overhead and a Nets court lined with the names of all 575 players in franchise history.

Barclays Center's new entrance and its art
Photo: netsdaily

The work is year three of a five-year, $150 million renovation, and it changes how you walk in: the bank of ticket windows in the atrium gave way to ticket-resolution and guest-services counters, while traditional windows stay out on Flatbush Avenue [41]. Sze's "WAVE" hangs over that main entrance, with pieces by Rashid Johnson and Mark Bradford at a new American Express entrance [41]. The old 40/40 Club space is now a lounge for Amex Platinum and Centurion holders only [41]. On the new court, the Nets lost 136-109 to Indiana Sunday and are 0-3 [74].

“From street to seat, our focus is on making every moment feel intentional and memorable,”
Shanon Ferguson, Chief Hospitality Officer, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment · [41]
By the numbers
  • 70%of Barclays customers enter through the redesigned atrium [41]
  • 9,000square feet in the new DUMBO-themed club at the entrance level [41]
WatchThe ABA-colors 60th anniversary court returns at games throughout the season [41].
FromNetsDaily
  • Manhattan (Midtown): A Brighton Beach woman, 32, faces hate-crime assault charges for allegedly jabbing two men with a syringe near the Diamond District, walking off from a third after he said he was Muslim; bail is $50,000 [11].
  • Manhattan (Central Park): Police are hunting a man who sexually assaulted a 39-year-old woman at knifepoint near East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue Saturday night [21].
  • Manhattan (Midtown): Serbian voters waited about two hours on West 45th Street at a consulate that opened at 2 a.m. and closed at 3 p.m., matching Serbia's hours [5].
  • Manhattan (Midtown): MSG says more than 275 staffers will get Knicks championship rings in four to six weeks, and apologized for using a ring email as a phishing test [77].
  • Manhattan (Midtown): The champion Knicks fell to 0-3, losing 111-102 at the Garden to an Orlando team playing without Paolo Banchero [83].
  • Brooklyn (Prospect Lefferts Gardens): YIMBY counted 12 projects underway or finished, led by the 131-condo Le Parc at 757 Flatbush Avenue [25].
  • Bronx (Concourse): River Apartments II at 1185 River Avenue will hold 292 apartments, 173 of them supportive housing, over a cellar space meant for a grocery store [26].
  • Queens (Flushing): Forty years after his grounder rolled through Bill Buckner's legs, Mookie Wilson says his thought in that inning was "We're about to blow this" [85].
  • Bronx (Yankee Stadium): The Yankees gave pitching coach Matt Blake a three-year extension after the league's best staff ERA, 3.23 [82].
  • Citywide: The Rangers signed 16-year veteran goalie James Reimer after a 35-save shutout for Hartford, with Joonas Korpisalo out with a foot infection [55].
  • Long Island: The Islanders erased three one-goal deficits in Dallas, then gave up two goals in 5:35 in the third and lost 6-3 [71].
  • New Jersey (East Rutherford): The Jets lost 28-25 to the previously winless Dolphins and are 0-8 against the AFC East under Aaron Glenn [87].
  • Western NY (Buffalo): The 5-1 Bills sat out on their bye and still moved into a tie for the AFC's best record [59].
  • Western NY (Niagara Falls): The city will spend its $10 million state downtown grant on sidewalks, trees and lighting along North Main Street, with side-street work starting in spring [35].
  • Get Out, live: The New York Philharmonic plays Michael Abels' score live to Jordan Peele's film Oct. 28-31, with a composer talk after the Oct. 28 show [42].
  • Medea at the Met: Sonya Yoncheva stars in David McVicar's mirrored production of Cherubini's opera, returning Oct. 30 [42].
  • Padre Pio shrine: Il Bacco owner Joe Oppedisano built a prayer garden open to everyone at 45-302 Little Neck Parkway, daily 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. [44].
  • Find your unclaimed money: State comptroller staff, including Spanish speakers, help search for forgotten funds Thursday, Oct. 29, 1 to 4 p.m., at Douglass Older Adult Center, 868 Amsterdam Avenue, with no fee to claim [31].
  • Good to know: State POWER energy rebate checks of up to $200 keep arriving by mail through December in no set order, so a missing check is not a rejection yet; the state mails to the most recent address on file [32].
Only in New York
Wikimedia Commons / Carmel Hamlet, New York

Maggie, a 4-year-old Highland cow, jumped out at Little Cabin's Farm in Carmel and spent four days loose in Putnam County, trotting down a road while one driver shouted "Holy sh-t! It's a cow!" and an officer tried to lasso her [10]. She is back with her calf. "She got a little freaked out and jumped out and went to the woods, so we were behind her for four days," said co-owner Marianna Brophy [10].